When I walked into the Boothbay Region Historical Society a few weeks ago, I was hoping that Society President, Kay Wilder, might be able to tell me a little something about the delicate, hand painted porcelain pitcher I had just found in one of the boxes dropped off at the St. Andrews Auxiliary Thrift Shop. And perhaps the Society might want it or know of an organization that would. To my surprise, when I lifted it out of the bubble wrap, Kay’s face immediately lit up and she said, “Oh my, we don’t have that one.” She turned and walked across the hall to a built-in china cabinet where dozens of similar small turn-of-the-century china objects were on display.

None of us were around to enjoy the The Menawarmet Hotel which stood on Atlantic Avenue (where the former Griffin and Harris Law Office now sits) from 1889-1913 when it burned down. And according to my research, high-end resorts during this time period would often gift their affluent guests with small tokens of thanks. In the case of the Menawarmet, it was this little Austrian porcelain pitcher with a transfer print of the hotel exterior and hand painted gold trim.

So, what is the message of this lovely small story of finding the home for this charming treasure? It is that every time we open a bag or go through a bin, we see every single thing you donate as an item that came from a person or family that has its quiet memories and connections to that piece (or sometimes not—the contents of a dumped sock drawer, knitting yarn or a jigsaw puzzle you finally gave up on, etc.). But the bottom line is that you honor us by putting those items in our hands so they have a best second (or more) life in someone else’s home or closet. Please know that we, the hard-working St. Andrews Auxiliary volunteers, so love all the support we get from you, our community, through both your donations and your purchases. At the end of the day, the shop income allows us the ability to fund both scholarships in health fields and directly support needs in our regional healthcare community.

But, every once in a while, as in this case with a tiny porcelain object (that I swear looks like a watering can), you don’t even think about pricing. You already know it has a home, and you can just make sure it gets there.